Piston ring



Feb. 1v, 1942; l w. 'H1 f '2313103 PIs'ioN RING Fned Jan. 22', 1940 ,wams wenn.

` Smquor dttorneg Patented Feb. 17,1942

Research Corporation,

ration Boston, Mass., a corpo- Application January 22,1940, Serial No. 314,968

2 claims. (ci. sos- 45) Q The present-I 'invention is concerned with an l improved piston ring and more particularly with one of the type provided with openings extending therethrough for the retention and return of oil.

It is common practice in the internal combustion art to provide each piston with at leastone piston ring hating an oil groove. Communicating with this oil groove are openings extending entirely through the ring radially thereo and in` communication with openings through the wall of the piston. The oil, in travelling up thecylinder wall, is retained in the oil groove and passes through the openings. in the piston ring and the piston back to the crankcase. The operation of this pistonring to reopenings being maintained' relatively free from foreign matter so that the oil can passtherelthrough. There is considerabletendeney for I these' oil grooves and openings to become clogged -with carbon. An object of the present invention is to provide means for -maintaining the openportion of a cylinder wall, a piston, and a' modiiied form of my piston ring,

And Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of themodifled form of the ring located on apiston,

.tain the oil is obviously dependent. upon the the section bing takenalongthe vline 5-5 of Figure 4. v

Referring to the drawing for a more detailed understan/ding of the invention, the vnumeral I0 is employed to designate the w'all of a piston cylinder of an ordinary internal combustion engine. Thev wall of the piston is /de'signated by the numeral II. Located within a groove of this piston is la, piston ringl generally designated by the numeral I2. As best shown in'Figures 2 and 3, this ring is'provided withan annular groove I3. Communicating with this grooveare spaced openings I5 which extend entirely through the ring. As best shown in Figure 1, .these openings communicate with smaller openings I 6 extending through the piston wall.

The ring I 2 is normally the'lowermost pistonA ring. As the oil is carried up the cylinder wall by the repiprocation oi' the piston, the oil enters the oil groove I3. -It is easier for the oil enterngthis groove to pass through the vopenings I5 and "I6 into the interior of 'the piston than it is for this oil to pass between the upper .portion of the ring and the cylinder wall. Thus, as long Al stlliurtherobject `ofthe invention is to' provide a piston having such a ring and wherein the reciprocable member has portions extending through the'openings in the piston so as to clean these openings.

A'further object of the invention is to provide such an` arrangement in which the outer diame-v ter of the reciprocable member corresponds to the outerV diameter of the piston' ringso as to engage theK cylinder wall and be reciprocated with respect to the piston ring as the piston moves up anddown. '4 Othei` objects of the Figure 3 is a transverse seetion of a portion of the ring. the section being takenalong the line 3 -3 of Figure 2,..

Figure 4 is a horizontal .sectional View of a" as the openings I5 and- I6 are maintained clear, substantially all of the pumped oil` is returned through openings. I5 and I6 to the crankcase.

The dimculty -is that the ring I2 is constantly exposed to carbon with the result thatan accumulation of Acarbon tends to build upin the groove Il. This carbon enters `the openings I5, In extreme cases, the 4carbon may even enter and close the openings I6. n I

Thepresent invention is principally concerned with means for preventing such clogging. This l means takes the form o f an annular ring vIII -havinvention will be apparent I from a considerationcf the accompanying speciing tongues I8 entering the openings I5 and extending therethrough. The. ring I8 and the ring I2 are both split `along a common line, in.- dicated by the numeral 20, in order thatA they may be assembled on the piston. The tongues -I9 are of substantially the same size'as the openings, as-clearly indicatedin Figure 1. Furthermore, the'thickness of the ring I8 is only a lfraction of theY width of groove I3 and openings I5 so, that the ring I8 is free to reciprocate in the,di rection of movement of the piston. The outer ldiameter of ring I8 is substantiallyv the same as that of the-'pistnn ring I2, as best indicated in Figure 3, and the ring is formed So as to tend-.to spring outwardly. The result is that 4the outer surface of the ring I8 iirmly engages the cylin er/wall I so that the movement of the pisto causes movement oi' member I8 in the direction of movement of the piston.` The eii'ect of this is that the tongues I9 are ,reciprocated in the openings I5 so as to keep these openings relativelyfree of carbon. In this manner, the openings I5 are maintained in condition to carry out/.their intended function throughout 'the normal life of the internalcombustion engine. Moreover, the ring I 8 acts as an oil scraper ring to further increase the eiliciency of the entire pistonring assembly.

In the modiiication of Figures 4 and 5, means are also provided for cleaning the openings in the piston proper. -'While these openings exhibit less tendency to become clogged diie to the fact that they are less accessible to the carbon, there is a. slight tendency for even these openings to become so clogged. Referring to Figure 4, the numeral is employed to designate a ring similar inA function to ring I8. This ring is a flat ring similar to ring I8 and cooperates with a piston ring which is identical with ring. I2 and for this reason is designated by this reference numeral. It will be noted that ring 25l is provided with projections 26 which extend into openings I8 of ring I2. The ring 25 as so far described is identical with cleaner' ring I8. The

ring 25 is, unlike ring I8, provided with further projections 2'! extending from the projections 26.

inrthe piston ring I2 cl'e'an but also serves to keep clean the openings I6 in the piston II.

It will be seen that I have provided an extremely simple Aand highly effective piston'ring structure wherein the oil is returned through openings in theA ring to the piston, and wherein means are provided for assuring that these openings will remain free o! foreign' matter.

While I have shown'a speciic embodiment of my invention for purposes of illustration, it will .be understood that the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a hollow piston having an annular groove in the outer surface thereof, openings extending from the inner wall of said groove to the inner surface of said piston, a piston ring disposed in said groove, said piston ring The projections 21 are considerably smaller in size than projections 26 and are of a size adapted to extend through the openings I6 of piston II. 'I'he dimensions of the projections 21 longitudinally of the piston, is relatively small as compared with that ofopenings I6. The result is that the reciprocation of ring 25 with respect to the piston ring I2 is not impeded in any `:ray by the projections 21. Thez'reciprocation of the having a plurality of openings extending therethrough and communicating with the @penings through said piston, and a member associated with saidv ring and having portions extending through both said openings in the piston ring and said openings in the piston, said member being reciprocable with respect to said ring and piston in the direction of normal movement of said piston in operation soas to reciprocatesaid portions Within said openings as said piston is reciprocated.

2. In combination an oil control piston :ting anda piston which hhas oil passages formed therein, said ring comprising spaced-apart sides, connecting portions for the sides, laid connecting portions having radially extending oil passages formed therein, annular scavenger means floating loosely between the said sides, tongue yrlng 25 serves not only to keep the openings I8 means forming apart of* the scavenger means and adapted to extend into the radial oil passages of the ring, andJ relatively smaller tongue means forming a part of the-said rst tongue means and adapted to extend into the oil passages of said piston.

l WILLIS H. GILLE. 

